Hearsay, Pollo Bravo, Elevation Burger and More

Houston Press critic Katharine Shilcutt assess downtown's Hearsay, a self-described gastro lounge, where she finds a few essential dishes and delicious cocktails, but wonders about some of the outdated menu items and writes about high prices in an accompanying blog post. "A friend of mine mentioned the same sense of unwanted nostalgia when looking at Hearsay's food offerings, and I have to agree with him for the most part. There are items on the menu — a chicken caesar wrap at lunch, Tuscan pasta or a chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes at dinner — that seem to be deliberate throwbacks to at least the 1990s.

These are the dishes I don't understand. Are they on Hearsay's menu because they're safe? Because they play well to the downtown lunch crowd? The dishes seem at odds with Hearsay's excellent, aggressively modern cocktail program and chic, elegant interior that's all sky-high ceilings, sexy banquets and dazzling chandeliers." [Houston Press]

Chronicle critic Alison Cook may not awarded Mexican/Peruvian chicken restaurant Pollo Bravo any only one star, but she seems quite taken with the place. "In short, Pollo Bravo is head and shoulders above most chicken joints. These are wonderfully useful restaurants for takeout, a quick meal on the go (attested to by lots of working guys swigging yellow Inka Kola, the Peruvian national soft drink), or a more relaxed meal with the family (attested to by numerous groups speaking Spanish and English, their tables shoved together to accommodate multiple generations)." [29-95]

THE BLOGS: Hank on Food visits Houston's first Elevation Burger on its opening day where he awards a burger with one meat and one veggie patty an A. Daniel the Gluttonous Chinaman praises the fish and chips at Firkin and Phoenix. Finally, Catherine Martin arbitrarily decides New York deli Katz's deserves +192 for offering free elevator rides.

Update: An earlier version of this post indicated that Alison Cook did not award Pollo Bravo any stars. She awarded it one star. Eater regrets the error.